This invention has to do with a sports wheelchair and is more particularly concerned with such a wheelchair having novel support and adjustment means. Ordinary wheelchairs of the prior art are cumbersome and difficult to maneuver, and the primary concerns in the designs of such chairs have been the safety and comfort of the user. Among optional features which have been considered of value for use with ordinary wheelchairs are reclining or semi-reclining backs, narrow models for use in going through doors, padded seats, elevating leg rests, etc.
In recent years, there has been an evergrowing interest in sports in which the user of a wheelchair desires to participate, such as track, basketball and tennis. The ordinary wheelchair is not appropriate for this purpose due to lack of maneuverability and stability. Good athletes require equipment that is not only of high quality, but which also gives the user a competitive edge.
In the designing of sports wheelchairs, it is extremely important to the athlete that the chair be highly maneuverable. It is seen that on a basketball court, for example, the chair must give the user extreme mobility. Furthermore, this maneuverability must be accomplished while providing adequate stability for the user, whose chair will be tilting, swaying, bumping, etc. It is pointed out also that the athlete demands a chair which is lightweight and rugged.
It is also true, as with most competitive athletic equipment, that the user would prefer sufficient adaptability and adjustability built into the equipment so that the user may select that combination of settings and/or adjustments which are best for the user. This is especially important with respect to wheelchair equipment in that the nature and extent of different athletes' handicaps will vary considerably. Thus, it would be desirable if the athlete were able to adjust, according to his own preference, certain characteristics relating to the balance, stability, maneuverability, etc., of the chair depending upon the particular nature of his handicap, his particular mobility, and the particular sport involved.
Additionally, wheelchairs of the prior art have not provided appropriate positioning of the foot plates for the sake of safety and balance in sports; and most prior art attempts at solving that problem have been by way of placement of roller bars across the front of the foot plates.
Further, wheelchairs of the prior art have not provided a sufficiently independent suspension of the seat of the wheelchair to prevent the seat from binding up with other members of the chair, especially the back, during the movements encountered in sports, such as tilting and swaying.
All in all, the prior art efforts to modify known wheelchair constructions to provide a satisfactory sports wheelchair, which accomplishes the foregoing purposes and provides the foregoing features, have not been successful.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to provide a sports wheelchair which is not only well adapted for its use, but provides also for the solution of the other problems hereinbefore mentioned with respect to the prior art.